Weekend in Cola

Paul and I decided we wanted to get away for Memorial Day weekend, so we decided to visit Matt and his family in Columbia, SC since they only live just over 3 hours away...and because we love them too.

We left as soon as Paul got home from work and we made it just in time for dinner. We just hung out, talked, and watched a movie that night.

On Sunday morning, we went to church. As we were walking through the parking lot to the church building, I said, "We need to hold hands." Nathan and Olivia decided to hold each others' hands instead of one of their parents'. It was so cute to see them walking like that together.

Cute Cousins

We had Olivia's birthday party that afternoon. I already wrote about that, so I won't bore you with the details again. Paul's grandmother met Ethan for the first time that day.

Ms. Crolley, Jayne, and Ethan

Olivia had fun being tickled by Papa Otis

Jayne, Otis, Ethan, Olivia

That evening, we went over to Stephen and Naomi's for dinner. Stephen is my cousin and one of Paul's best friends and Naomi is a good friend of mine. They have a little girl named Grace, who has the cutest personality. We enjoyed some delicious lasagna and great conversation. We stayed much longer than anticipated because we just couldn't stop talking! Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures while we were there. I'll be sure to get some next time.

After all the kiddos were in be on Sunday night, Matt, Heather, Paul, and I stayed up playing cards. For anyone who doesn't know, you have to make a choice if you live in SC: South Carolina Gamecocks or Clemson Tigers. Well, Paul is a Clemson fan while my family and I are Carolina fans (especially Matt and Heather). Because of this, Paul decided to bring his Clemson pajamas to wear while we were there. And because of that, we made Paul play with the Carolina cards Matt and Heather had. Paul wasn't very thrilled, but we just had to get a picture. He threw the cards down on the table, Heather couldn't capture him holding them:

On Memorial Day, we had fun playing outside.

Matt grilled some burgers and hot dogs for lunch.

A little after lunch, the Crolley family drove back to Atlanta.

We had lots and lots of fun that weekend.

Nathan and Olivia LOVED playing together. And Nathan is such a sweetheart because he always wants to help. He "helped" Olivia put her shoes on before going outside. He also "helped" me change Ethan's diaper a couple of times. He's such a cutie!

Here are a few more pictures from that weekend:

Olivia applying the makeup she got for her birthday from Uncle Matt and Aunt Heather

Lucas enthralled by "Super Why"

Olivia loved wrestling with Uncle Matt

Birthday Parties

Olivia is 2 years old! I can't believe how big she is getting. Paul and I are in awe of her and love watching her grow and learn.

We had 3 parties to celebrate her birthday. They weren't big and fancy, just small fun.

The first party occurred the Thursday before her birthday (May 24). Olivia and I hosted play group to celebrate.

We colored,

played with punch balloons,

and just made a mess, in general.

We went out of town to Columbia, SC for Memorial Day weekend and stayed with my brother. While we were there, we had our second party. Paul's mom, stepdad, and grandmother were all able to come. (I'll write more about our weekend trip later.)

Olivia opened presents (with a little bit of Nathan's help)

We ate cupcakes

And we had fun

Thanks to Matt and Heather for letting us use their home for the party!

Olivia's third party was just our little family and it was at home on her birthday, Tuesday, May 29. Paul wasn't going to be able to be there because he works until 8pm on Tuesdays, but he was sick and came home early. (Both he and Ethan got a really bad cold that Olivia had last week. I didn't get it because I have mommy superpowers!) I was a little happy he came home sick so he could enjoy Olivia opening a couple of gifts.

Since we did cupcakes already, I just gave her a cookie this time. She blew the candles out as soon as they were in front of her. She didn't even wait for us to finish singing. (Yes, she's skinny enough to still fit in the bumbo.)

She actually got this water table from Paul's mom on Sunday, but we didn't open it until now. She had a ball playing with it and there wasn't even any water in it yet. Since she loves it so much without the water, I know she'll have a blast with it once we put some in.

Patiently waiting for Daddy to get the goods out of the package from Aunt Tiffy and Uncle Vic.

Squealing with delight as she crawls through the tunnel from Mommy and Daddy.

She also enjoyed the big box the water table came in.

She opened cards from my parents, Paul's dad, and Paul's grandmother the night before her birthday. My mom always makes everyone's birthday cards on the computer and she made sure to put Curious George on Olivia's card because she knows how much Olivia loves him. Olivia kept holding the card up to Paul and me exclaiming, "George!" over and over again. She also loved the card from Frankie. It played the birthday song and the candles on the cake lit up when you opened it. This was her face every single time she opened the card:

We had lots of fun celebrating Olivia's 2nd birthday. It's hard to imagine that this little baby...

...has turned into this big girl:

Where does the time go? We love and cherish every moment we have with our Olivia Jayne!

Paul's 5K

I thought I already posted this, but apparently I didn't because it was just sitting there saved as a draft. It was actually supposed to come before the mini vacation post. Oops! Here it is now...

Our ward (church congregation) had a 5K activity at the beginning of the month. The Elder's Quorum was in charge of it. Paul works on Saturdays, but he took this particular Saturday off for two reasons: 1) He is the EQ President, so he felt like he should be there; 2) He wanted to run the 5K.

He diligently got up in the mornings to train for it and we are happy to report that he ran the entire time. There were a few people there to participate, but I thought more people would show up than did because we have lots of runners in our ward. Maybe it was just too early in the morning.

And they're off!

Run, Paul, run!

Chatting and re-hydrating after the run.

I stayed home with the kids while Paul ran because I was getting us ready for our mini family vacation that I'll write about later.

Our Mini Family Vacation

We aren't able to go anywhere on the weekends very often because Paul works on Saturdays until 3:00pm. So when Paul took Saturday, May 5th off for the 5K, we decided it would be a great weekend to get away.

We decided to go to Helen, GA, which is about 1.5 hours away. Helen is a recreation of an alpine village. All of the stores, restaurants, and hotels are designed to fit in. It looks very cool.

Upon entering Helen, we drove straight to Anna Ruby Falls where we "hiked" about half a mile to see the waterfalls. It was a more intense walk than we anticipated since we (and by "we" I mean Paul) had to push the stroller uphill. At least it was a paved path. Olivia loved looking at the water and even enjoyed walking some herself. I pushed the stroller back down. While I admit that Paul had the harder job, please don't assume mine was easy. It was hard hanging onto the stroller, so it wouldn't roll away by itself. I was leaning backwards and walking on my tip-toes so I didn't end up running downhill with the stroller. Paul and I both got a calf workout. And Paul was extra sore since he ran a 5K that morning!

Olivia was thrilled to hear and see rolling water and she kept making this face

Olivia didn't like that we made her sit for a picture (Aren't the stone benches cool?)

All 4 of us made it to the top!

Coincidentally, Paul's mom and stepdad were in Helen that same weekend for their anniversary. They met us in the hotel lobby to say hello and helped us drag everything to our room. We instantly loved our room that overlooked the Chattahoochee River. We had a porch we could hang out on and watch people tube down the river.
We then parted with the promise of meeting up for dinner. We walked around the shops, which we were not impressed with. They were all very tiny and a little trashy. It was more fun walking around outside the shops rather than actually looking in them. Downtown definitely looks cooler on the outside than the inside. I did love the Hansel & Gretel candy store though. They had some very yummy fudge and truffles that we had to get!
After meeting up with Jayne and Otis again, we had a nice dinner outside, got some funnel cakes and ice cream for dessert, then walked the long, scenic way back to our hotel.

Olivia has grown up so quickly, don't ya think?

Olivia loves that Grandma lets her play with her phone

Like father, like daughter...both on iPhones

Picking a flower

"Must you always take pictures of me?"

Excitedly running down the hill (just before she fell and got very upset)

Olivia spotted a bunny, which cheered her up!

It hopped away from her and hid under the porch of a nearby shed

"Where's it at?"

We ended the evening with a dip in the pool. Well, Ethan, Jayne, and I hung out beside the pool while Paul and Olivia had a grand ol' time swimming. Olivia has no fear of the water. When she jumped into the pool from the edge, she tried jumping away from Paul because she wanted to be independent. Her lack of fear gives me lots of fear! We'll have to teach that girl how to swim sooner rather than later!She squealed with delight whenever Paul threw her up in the air. I tried to get a picture, but they were all blurry. This is the best one.

Poolside

We enjoyed a continental breakfast with Jayne and Otis on Sunday morning, snapped a few pictures with them, then Paul, Olivia, Ethan, and I went to church. We sneaked out after sacrament meeting because Olivia was super cranky and we were ready to get home.

We almost forgot about making sure Ethan was in the picture!

It was a quick weekend, but it was fun. We can't wait to go back so we can tube down the river and do other fun things there.